PEA Appoints New Director of Student Well-Being
Christina Palmer was hired earlier this week as the new Director of Student Wellbeing, a position currently held by Jane Stapleton and Tina Sciocchetti. Both Stapleton and Sciocchetti were hired at the beginning of this school year to undertake these responsibilities temporarily whilst the Academy conducted a national search for someone professionally trained to permanently take on the role.
According to the official job description, the Director of Student Wellbeing is responsible for assessing and managing the Academy’s health and sexual assault student education programs, as well as supervising school policies and procedures for reporting, investigation protocol and community training. “Supporting students who are already in some form of a health crisis is pretty much a full-time job. I couldn’t really dive into the proactive piece because I was so busy doing the reactive piece. This concept resonated with a lot of people, including Principal Macfarlane, and they recognized that we need somebody here who can really do that,” Dean of Student Health and Wellness William Coole said.
The search spanned over five months and was a collaborative process between many community members and an official search committee, consisting of Assistant Principal Ronald Kim, Dean of Academic Affairs Karen Lassey, Director of Counseling and Psychological Services Jeanne Stern and General Counsel Holly Barcroft. After the vast group of applicants had been narrowed down to three final candidates based on their written applications, résumés and phone conferences, each candidate visited the campus to tour the school, observe classes and take part in multiple interviews with both faculty and students. “[The Director of Student Wellbeing is] going to be working towards providing education to the community and handling issues that come forward. We want to make sure the person we offer the job to can connect with the kids in a practical, positive way,” Dean of Students Melissa Mischke said.
“The committee and others who met Christina were impressed both by her passion for students and by her credentials, which include expertise in the areas of social and emotional learning. I am especially delighted to see how well her experience and expertise matches what we are looking for in this position,”
Upper Alyssa Kuwana, one of fifteen students who were chosen to meet with the candidates, elaborated on the importance of having students involved in the search. “I think it’s really important that the students got to interview the candidates as well because the candidate is going to interact a lot with the students. If the students don’t approve of him or her, then it’s going to be hard for the students to create a connection with them,” she said. Coole expressed similar sentiments. “Everything we’ve done, particularly in the realm of the sexual misconduct issues, has been to partner with students. I really don’t like it when people make decisions in isolation. I’m very happy that we’ve taken that track to make sure that we had voices from everybody. It’s been a very broad, inclusive process,” he said.
Palmer has served as the Director of Guidance and Clinical Services in the Brookline, MA public school system since 2013. She has also worked part time at Phillips Academy for three years and is familiar with the residential environment and private school setting. “The committee and others who met Christina were impressed both by her passion for students and by her credentials, which include expertise in the areas of social and emotional learning. I am especially delighted to see how well her experience and expertise matches what we are looking for in this position,” Principal Lisa MacFarlane said.
Palmer will assume her role on July 1. Many students and faculty believe she is capable of establishing a safer and more inclusive school environment at the Academy. “I hope this position will continue to bring awareness to sexual violence and give people a way to voice their experiences to someone they know will listen and will help,” lower Adrian Venzon said.
Coole hopes that Palmer will help to make the organization and handling of all sexual assault cases more efficient and thorough. “[She] will be the go-to person for all matters of sexual misconduct, whether it’s reporting or managing. Reports of sexual misconduct come to us in a variety of ways. Now we have a singular person to bring all this stuff to. Whether you’re a dean, teacher, a student, a counselor—we know this is the person to call,” he said.